Thornton’s asbence from the morning skate indicates that the B’s brawling winger will miss his second straight game with a minor “undisclosed injury”. With Thornton and Kessel out of the lineup, Bitz should again populate the fourth line with Steve Montador and Stephane Yelle — and Blake Wheeler, P.J. Axelsson and Marc Savard will again skate as Boston’s top scoring line after producing an even-strength goal Tuesday night.

“Phil was on the ice and he’s practicing, and we’re planning his return for sometime next week,” said Claude Julien. “(Thornton) is still the same. I can’t say any more than it’s not sonething serious. There’s a lot of the same, and we’re just going to keep going with healthy guys.”